24 Fun Activities for Youth Soccer

Make practice more fun for your players while working on their technical abilities! Successful D-III college coach Marcus Wood has put together a compilation of different soccer drills and games that will help improve the skills level of youth soccer players while allowing them to have fun. The games in this video will improve your players' skills on the ball as well as keep them interested in the game.

A must-have for any beginning youth coach, this video uses a combination of chalkboard analysis and live practice footage to give you all the basics to start training your team and leave them anticipating the next practice session. This video contains a sequence of competitive drills and games designed to keep the youth player engaged and having fun. Each drill is shown in a live practice to demonstrate key coaching points and the challenges associated with coaching this age group. The comprehensive video logically progresses from skill-based drills to competitive, problem-solving games that get your young players thinking like a soccer player.

Dribbling Games
Train players to improve their touch on the ball and to get around a defender much more easily. Coach Wood presents a dribbling progression that emphasizes turns and moves to beat defenders. Being able to use both feet with confidence will make it difficult for the defenders to predict which foot you favor. Your players will become better with both their strong and weak foot. Learn how players can make errors when forced to use the "weaker foot."

Coach Wood demonstrates east-to-learn dribbling exercises that will help players control the ball and keep it from getting stolen. See games of Knockout, Team Knockout, Sharks and Minnows, and Freeze Tag that are fun to play and are great for giving your players ideas of different moves they can use to beat the defender in the attack.

Technical Quality
Working alone or with a partner your players can improve technical quality and make better touches to control the ball in a game using various body parts. Juggling is an exciting way to develop this technical ability. Coach Wood gives several creative ways to make the simple drill of juggling more challenging and game-like. This will help players adapt to the various types of aerial or ground balls that might be directed towards them.

Competitive Goal Scoring
Use the skills you learned from the previous sections of the video in the competitive goal-scoring exercises. Begin with 1v1 examples that will help your players discover creative ways to get around the defender. You'll see 3v2 and 2v1 scenarios that will train your players to be creative in overload situations. Playing with teammates will develop the communication needed to be a better soccer player and a better soccer team.

Never run out of ideas for practice again. Whether new to the game or an enthusiastic player and fan, this video from Coach Marcus Wood will show you how to keep practice sessions simple but effective. More importantly, Coach Wood makes the sessions fun, which is the best motivation for soccer players of all skills levels. Develop your athletes into more confident and technical players that will give you the edge in your next game!

148 minutes. 2013.